Oklahoma Secondary Thriving so far, but Auburn Could Challenge Sooners Deep

NORMAN — After last week’s win over Temple, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said his defense looked like it was on recess.

“I say that respectfully,” Venables said. “They have fun. When you’re passionate about something, you have a chance to be great. If you don’t love it, you have no chance to be great. So this is a group that love it and love each other.”

The secondary has been a big piece of the success so far for the 11th-ranked Sooners, who go in to Saturday’s home game against No. 22 Auburn (2:30 p.m., ABC) with the top-ranked defense in the SEC and sit at No. 4 nationally in total defense and scoring defense.

“I feel like we had a great three weeks,” OU safety Robert Spears-Jennings said of the secondary. “Could have been a little bit better at communicating, like (against) Michigan and Illinois State. But I feel like Temple was our best communication game.

“And I feel like we’re just gonna grow from that.”

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There is still plenty of room for growth, too.

Eli Bowen, who was OU’s most consistent cornerback a year ago, has yet to play this season, while Kendel Dolby and Jacobe Johnson just returned from injuries.

Gentry Williams missed the Temple game.

Still, though, the Sooners have flashed depth on the back end.

Sophomore Reggie Powers III, who played just 21 defensive snaps last season, is the highest-graded safety on the defense according to Pro Football Focus at 74.1 in an average of nearly 30 defensive snaps per game so far.

“We know we have the tools to do it big this year,” Powers said. “We’ve got to stay focused on week to week and we can’t get too high or too low on our things, because we know that at the end of the day, as long as we keep working, we can get to where we want to be.”

Courtland Guillory, who became just the second true freshman to start for OU at cornerback in a season opener, has graded out at 72.5 so far, including 75.2 in coverage.

“He’s doing stuff that a lot of seniors aren’t even doing,” Spears-Jennings said of Guillory. “So that speaks for itself. Court is a dog. He shows his energy. He plays with his feelings on his pads. He’s just an energetic guy, and you wanna play for him.”

The Sooners have allowed just 254 passing yards so far and have yet to allow a touchdown through the air.

“Dudes are two, three, four years into this thing, so the communication’s there,” Dolby said. “We have great chemistry together, so I feel like that’s a big part of growing as a defense.”

About the only thing that’s been missing for the Sooners’ defense has been turnovers.

“We got to get turnovers,” Spears-Jennings said. “All of today (Monday), we emphasized on punching at the ball, picking the ball off. We just got to get turnovers because the offense, they’re moving the ball. But if we could steal an extra possession in this league, we’ll be great.”

But they’re also not getting much in the way of chances, at least through the air.

PFF hasn’t registered a dropped interception for any Sooners’ defender, and opponents have fumbled just once against OU so far.

“They’ll come,” Venables said. “Because we’re playing fast, we’re playing sure of ourselves, we’re being physical, we’re doing all the right things when it comes to drill work and finishing on the football. Just hasn’t gone our way right now.”

Auburn could test the Sooners on the back end. The Tigers are just 4-of-7 on passes 20 or more yards downfield with two touchdowns.

“I’d like to throw it deep more,” Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said this week. “... I think we’ve got the threats to throw it deep, and hopefully we can be a little more aggressive and more consistent in throwing it down the field.”